Sprinkler



March 119 1947.4 S'Wi YQDER 2,417,228,

I SPRINKLER Filed Sept. l5, 1945 y ,Arron/vsn Patented Mar. 11, 1947Unirse 'IES rst' OFFICE My invention relates in general to sprinklersand more particularly to the type of sprinklers known customarily aswhirlpool sprinklers.

Sprinklers of the whirlpool type are characterized, by having thesprinkled fluid, usually water, forced into a rapid rotary motion withina dome and discharged in a spray by centrifugal force rather than bybeing divided and directed in a spray by small orices. The orice` on thedome of such a sprinkler is usually provided with a thin lip to achievegreater comminution by suddenly changing the direction of motion frominwardly and rotary to outwardly and tangential. The thin lip presentsproblems of corrosion and wear and it isA not uncommon to have it in theform of a special insert of brass or other nonrusting metal. Thewhirlpool eiect within the dome is obtained by a tangentialinlet.However, the water pressure forces the vortex to one side of the exitorifice, and in fact may cause it to move around as such vortices arecommonly observed to move in nature, result-- ing in an elliptical anderratic discharge instead of an even circular spray.

It is accordingly a principal object of my invention to provide asprinkler of whirlpool action that will throw the spray evenly in alldirections.

It is another of my objects to s control and direct the llow of water asto render unnecessary the use of thin lips or noncorrosive inserts.

It is still a further object to provide a sprinkler ruggedly constructedof a minimum of easily manufactured parts.

These and other objects I obtain in a manner which will be clear from aconsideration of the following description taken in connection with theaccompanying drawings, in which:

Figure l is a plan View of my sprinkler;

Figure 2 is a front elevation;

Figure 3 is a side elevation;

Figure 4 is a vertical section of the sprinkler as disposed in Fig. 2,andon an enlarged scale;

Figure 5 is a vertical section on the line 5-5 of Fig. 4; and

Figure 6 is a partial horizontal section on the line 6-6 of Fig. 4, buton the scale of Fig. 1.

Referring now to Figs. l, 2, and 3, the numeral l0 designates a casing,the central portion of which is curved upwardly to form a round dome l lwith a central orifice I2. A boss i3, carried off center by the dome Il,is recessed and threaded internally, as shown at I4 in Figs. 5 and 6, toreceive the end of a hose or other conduit. At the inmost end of therecess is an inletpassage i5, of restricted cross-section relative tothe hose or conduit, which connects with the inside of the dome ll in atangential man- As shown in Figs. l and 5, the orice l2 is provided withan inwardly extending annular flange l5, which I designate as acentralizing tube. This centralizing tube It rextends inwardly to aboutthe level of the mid-point of the inlet l5. The sides of the dome Il areeX- truded inwardly at the point where `they outwardly join the casingl0, to form a second annular ange Il which, as will be seen, serves as asupporting ange.

As also shown in Figs. l and 5, a plug I8 is pressed within thesupporting ange Il, sealing the bottom of the ydome Il. On its interiorsurface the plug I8 carries an annular ridge or wall E9. The wall i9 isof greater diameter than, and concentric with, .the centralizingtube l,and is of sulcient height to overlapslightly the inner end of the tubeI6.

It will be seen from the foregoing that the entire construction is ofthe utmost simplicity, consisting of two major pieces which may bediecast and pressed together and requiring machinery only for thethreaded connection for the nose.

In operation, the water enters the sprinkler at high velocity throughthe inlet l5 and is deflected from short-circuiting to the centralizingtube i6 and the orifice l2 by the ridge I9. The

water is thereby forced to rotate within the dome H., and as all partstherein contacted by the water are annular in form and without ports,ribs, or other frictional obstructions, the water develops a highrotational speed.

Since thecross-section of flow in the dome is larger than that of theinlet i5, the velocity is less than that in the inlet, and as is wellknown in hydrodynamics, such a change of velocity tends to set upinternal turbulence 4and eddies. rIhe presence of the centralizing tubeI6 counteracts this tendency vand. streamlines the rotary flow moreevenly than would be otherwise possible. The outowing water moves evenlydownwardly between the annular wall i9 and the centralizing tube l5which by their overlap prevent the pressure at the inlet l5 fromexerting decentralizing force upon the swirling water contained betweenthem. Consequently, nthe water passes under the lower edge of thecentralizing tube i6 with an even distribution around the entire edge,and rises within the tube, clinging to the Walls .thereof by centrifugalforce, to the orice l2, from the increasing the rotary velocity of thewater at that` point and causing it `to begin its outward travel throughthe centralizing tube with great speed-2l Y The centralizing tube i6forms 1,afixedJ/iortex.. f.

around which the water swirls, preventingthe formation of a one-sidedorwobblingvcrtex suchl as occurs when the vortex is free. When 4the waterpasses under theedge of the centralizingv tube, it clings to the innersurface of the tube by centrifugal forceand isliftedby-the -waterbehindit; producing an evenly ydistributed supply of spray-forming water atthe'oriiice-l.

Other means of forming .the chamber andof` creating a restricted annularpassageto a tubular exist will occur .to those familiar with the artandv should be understood to `come within=the scope and spirit'of myinvention-.l I wish it to be understood thatthis detaileddescrptf'ionrand showing of one embodiment Aof my invention Yis not tobe taken in a limiting sense, as the invention is best defined in theappended claims.

1. A sprinkler comprising a-circularchamber, Y

an inlet to said 4chamber arrangedv substantially tangentially thereof,anoutlet positioned centrallyatone end'of saidchamber, a recess in theother end ofsaid chamber having an annular wall, a ,tubular flange on"said outlet extending within said chamber to a pointfwithinesaidrecess,

said'tubular ilange and'sa-id annularwall forming between them arestricted annularpassageto the interior of said tubular-flange.

2,. A sprinkler comprising a circular chamber,

an inlet to said chamber arranged substantially tangentially thereof;anloutlet v'positioned centrally at onevend of said chamber, a tubular-lange on said outlet extending centrally withinsaid chamber to apoint-adjacent the other end-thereof,I and means forming'partffsaid--therend of said-chamber--for directing'the vilow of"liq`uid intothe interior of said tubular ange at a` ve'- locityhigher than the 'meanvelocity withinfthe chamber. f fi 3. A sprinkler comprisnig a'domeshaped chamber, a rclosure for the base of said chamber, an outlet oricein the top' of -saidlchamber 'and centrally positioned therein, an inletsubstantially tangential to said chamber adjacent to the base of saidchamber and at right anglesrto said outlet orice, an annular flangesurrounding said outlet orice and extending centrally within the saiddome, and an annular wall carried by said closure of greater diameterthan said flange and extending inwardly of said dome to a position ofoverlap with said flange, said wall and said flange cooperatingconcentrically to form an annular passage between them, and said wallhaving a height sufficient to screen said passage fromsaid i inlet.

'Y 4. In a whirlpool sprinkler having a circular Y chamber, an inletsubstantially tangential there- Y to.and.an. outlet centrally located inone end thereof, the combination of, a tubular member ex- Atendingwithin said chamber from said outlet and adaptedto screen saidoutlet from the adjacent portion of said chambenand a member surroundingthe interior end of said tubular member and forming therewith a`restrictedannular passage thereto andadapted to screen said passage fromsaid inlet. f- A Y 5. In a whirlpool sprinklervhaving a circularchamber, an inlet substantially tangential thereto, and an outletcentrally located in oneend thereof, the combination of, a tubularmember extending within said chamber from said outlet toY a pointadjacent the other end of thesaid chamber and adaptedfto divide thewhirlpool into a iirstY whirlpool within said chamber and outside ofsaid-tubular member and arsecond whirlpool within said'tubular memberinalignment with said outlet, and means foridirecting said firstsubdividedwhirlpool'into said second subdivided whirlpool ata velocitygreater Ythan Vthe mean velocity of said rstsubdivided whirlpool.

v(i. A sprinkler comprising a circular chamber, an inlet to saidfchamberarranged substantially tangentially thereof, anv outlet positionedcentrally at one end of said chamber,v and ra tubular ange on saidoutlet extending'centrally'within said chamber to a point below theupper level of said inlet, whereby to maintainthe center of rotationwithin'said chamber in axial alignment with said chamber. K

Y STANLEY W. YODER.v

- REFERENCES CITEDv Thevfllwi'ng-references are of record in the le'ithis patent: y

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number

